Lifting and handling truck for banana bunches



y 7, 1953 i R. M. WINSLOW 2,644,598

LIFTING AND HANDLING TRUCK FOR BANANA BUNCHES Filed March 5, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 (Ittoinegs' y 7, 1953 R. WINSLOW 2,644,598

'LIFTING AND HANDLING TRUCK FOR BANANA BUNCHES Filed March 5, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nventor 1M Wad/0W 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 r o t n e D n audme s July 7, 1953 R. M. WINSLOW LIFTING AND HANDLING TRUCK FOR BANANA BUNCHES Filed March 5, 1951 V ///FM M J :1 Kit 53/ 4y F/ z: i 1 1 5:: E. 5 4 Z 2/22: /V/////////////// i i: i; f i H a U WWW/21. war/6W Patented July 7, 195 3 IFTING AND HANDLING TRUCK FOR. BANANA BUNCH-ES Raymond M. Wins'low, Minneapolis,fMinn., as signor to Winston anglNewell Company,,Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application March 5, 1951, Serial No. 213,878

My invention relates to a novel lifting and handling truck for banana bunches and hasfor its primary object the facile handling of banana bunches with a minimum of damage thereto.

Banana bunches are usually shipped in car load lots by freight or otherwise to the eventual point of distribution. They are picked green and generally arrive at the destination in a condition where they need artificial ripening before being distributed to the ultimate consumer. Therefore, it is necessary to' remove'the bunches from the freight cars to a curing room and eventually from the curing room to distributionor delivery trucks and the like. Individual banana bunches are quite heavy (usually from seventy to in excess of one hundred pounds). Hence, when the fruit becomes ripe, considerable damage may be imparted to the individual bananas by the sheer crushing weight of the bunches, when mishandled. The primary object of my invention is the provision of a novel apparatus for mounting a large number of banana bunches for carriage from the freight cars to the curing rooms and from the curing rooms to the delivery stations with a minimum of damage to the fruit.

A still further object of my invention is' the provision of a novel attachment for conventional lifting trucks whereby the same may be converted for the handling of banana stalks as abov outlined.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a durable, rugged structureof the type above described, which is relatively light in weight, inexpensive to produce, and which provides a maximum of vision to an operatortherebehind.

4 claims. (01. 214-620) I The above and still further objectslof, my in-:

vention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views Fig. 1 is a'view inside elevation of my novel structure; 7

Fig. 2 is a view infront elevation of the device of Fig. 1, some parts being broken away, and showing one of the uses to which the device may be put;

Fig. 3 is a view, partly in top plan and partly in section, taken on the line -3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 perspective of a portion of my device; and v I Fig. 5 is a view inelevation', as seen from the line 5'-5 of Fig. 4:

is an enlarged fragmentary view Referring with greater particularity to. the drawings, the numeral l indicates, in its entirety, a conventional motor-driven truck, the. rear wheels thereof being identified by the numeral 2, the front wheels by the numeral 3, and the steering column thereof by the numeral 4. Projecting vertically from the forward end of the truck I are a pair of laterally-spaced parallel guide members, preferably and as shown in the nature of opposed channel members 5. Brace members 6 retain the channels in rigid vertical positions. Interposed between the guide channels 5 is a conventional fluid pressurecylinder i having mounted therein a piston not shown, to which is connected a pulley-equipped piston rod 8. By a suitable cable 9, running over said pulley, a plate-like cross-head I ii is caused to be raised and lowered upon introduction of fluid under pressure into th cylinder and removal therefrom. Inasmuch as the structure heretofore described does not form a part of my invention, it is not felt necessary to go into further,

description of the details .of the mechanism for elevating and lowering the cross-head Hi. It suflices to state that the cross-head In is provided with means for preventing forward and rearward movement of same with respect to said guide channels 5. v

Preferably and as shown, a pair of verticallyspaced beams H and i2 respectively are secured to the head ID by means of nut-equipped bolts or the like 13. edge, is provided with an upstanding anchoring flange I4. I

The numeral 15 indicates, in its entirety, a rigid box-like frame including transverse vertically-spaced back frame elements it, which are connected at'their opposite ends to vertically extended forwardly-proj ected side frar'ne portions Hi. The open forward end of the frame. I 5 is spanned by a non-metallic flexible apron I8 which is secured along its opposite side edges to the forward ends of the side frame portions IT, as indi-.

cated at i9. Preferably, the apron l8'is formed from soft relatively thick sponge rubber sheeting or somesu'ch material. A lifting member 20 includes a vertically-disposed member 2! anda horizontally-disposed member 22. Preferably and as shown, the lifting member 20 is made up of a pair of laterally-spaced inverted L-shapecl forks 23, the horizontal portions 22 of which terminate in tapering ends 24 above the level of the frame it and forwardly of th plane of the Beam [2, along its forward upper Also, preferably and as shown, the vertical members 2| of the forks" 23 aresecured to the back frame members I6 and extend for substantially the entire depth of the frame I5. Adapted to cooperate with the anchoring flange It are a plurality of laterally-spaced downwardly-opening depending hook elements 25 which frictionally receive the flange [4 when dropped thereover. I-Iook elements 25, as shown particularly in Fig. 5, may be secured either to the vertical portions 2| of the forks 23 or to vertically extending members 26 connecting back frame elements [6,.or both. This arrangement makes it possible to readily attach and detach the frame I5 to the head l0. It will be noted that the hook elements 25 are spaced from the bottom 2'! of the frame 15 and rearwardly of the center of gravity of the frame 15. Therefore, no additional securing means is required in view of the fact that forward tilting of the frame I5 is prevented by engagement of the lower ends of the vertical members 2| with the beam ll. Obviously, the greater the weight carried by the horizontal portions 22 of the forks 23, the more secure is the attachment between the frame 15 and the head 10.

For the purpose of illustrating the utility of my novel lifting truck attachment, I have shown, in Fig. 2, a novel loading hoist 28, which is described and claimed in application filed of even date herewith and entitled Loading Hoist for Banana Bunches, which application has matured into United States Patent No. 2,614,704 of date Octoher 21, 1952. This novel structure, in my novel 7 method of handling banana stalks, is positioned immediately outside of a freight car in which a large number of bunches of bananas are shipped to a distributing destination. Broadly, the hoist 28 includes laterally-spaced vertically-extended guide frame members 29, a cross head 30 having its opposite ends mounted in said guide frame members 29, an electrically-driven power winch 3| secured to the upper ends of the guide frame members 29, and a flexible cable 32 between the winch 3| and a hook element'33 secured to the intermediate portion of the crosshead 33. Immediately below the cross-head 30 and secured thereto for vertical movements therewith are a pair of oposed stub shelf elements 34. The opposite sides of the shelf elements 34 are provided with upstanding flanges 35 which prevent accidental lateral displacement of the opposite ends of a loading beam 36 adapted to be received thereon. As shown, the loading beam is provided with depending hook elements 31, preferably openended, which are adapted to receive one end of ropes 38, the opposite ends of which are secured to the stalks A of banana bunches B. Preferably and as shown, short; and long ropes are alternately used so as to stagger the banana bunches Bywith the lower row staggered between the higher row. H

In practice, the banana bunches are unloaded manually from the hooks 3! by means of alternate short and long ropes 38, as shown in Fig. 2. Thereafter, my novel lifting truck is positioned with respect to one ofthe open ends of the hoist 28, sothat the horizontal portions 22 of the lifting forks 23 underlies the loading beam 36, as

shown in Fig. 1. Vertical elevation of the loading beam 36, by imparting vertical upward movements to the head ID, will permit the truck I to proceed through the opening X defined by the cross-head 30 and the guide members 29, or to be backed away therefrom. It will be noted that anypendulous movement of the banana bunches,

4 caused by forward and rearward movement of the truck during transport, will result in the banana bunches B coming into contact only with the soft sponge rubber apron l8, thus obviating any damage to the individual bananas. From the lifting hoist 28, the bunches Bare brought into ripening rooms where the'loadin beams 36 are allowed to come to rest on other elevated beams which extend transversely to the loading beams 36. In other words, once the banana bunches B are hung upon the beam 36, as shown in Fig. 2, it is not necessary to detach them therefrom or to manu ally handle the same until they have been removed from the ripening room and are placed upon a rack broadly similar to hoist 28, for the purpose of distributing them to the customer.

My novel lifting truck and attachment play an important part in this extremely novel and useful method of handling banana bunches; and, While I have disclosed a commercial form of the same, it is obvious that my invention is capable of modification without departure from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim is: g g

.1. A banana bunch-handling attachment for a lifting truck having a'lifting head mounted for vertical movements adjacent its forward end, said attachment comprising a rigid box-like frame open at its forward end, a non-metallic flexible apron spanning. said open end and secured to opposite side edges of said frame, a pair of laterallyspaced inverted L-shaped lifting forks, the vertical portions of said lifting forks being rigidly secured tothe rear portion of said frame and the horizontal portions thereof projecting above said frame and terminating in tapered ends forwardly of the plane of said apron, upstanding anchoring flanges on said lifting head, and depending anchoring hooks on. the rearend of said frame, said anchoring hooks being spaced from the bottom of said frame and adapted to frictionally receive therein said anchoring flanges.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the vertical portions of said lifting forks are substantially coextensive with the depth of said frame.

3. A banana bunch-handling attachment for a lifting truck having a lifting head mounted for vertical movements adjacent its forward end, said attachment comprisin a rigid frame including laterally-spaced forwardly projecting side frame members, a flexible apron spanning said laterally spaced side frame members and connected theretoalong its side edges, a pair of laterally-spaced inverted L-shaped lifting forks, the vertical portions of said lifting forks being rigidly secured to the rear portion of said frame and the horizontal portions thereof terminating upwardly of and forwardly of the plane of said apron, upstanding anchoring flanges on said head, and depending anchoring hooks on the rear end of said frame, said anchoring hooks being spaced from the bottom of said frame and adapted to receive therein said anchoring flanges.

4. A power driven lifting truck for handling banana bunches, including a lifting head mounted for vertical movements adjacent to forward end of said truck, a frame associated with said head, said frame including laterally-spaced forwardly projectin side frame members, a flexible apron spanning said laterally-spaced side frame members and connected thereto along its side edges,

and a pair of laterally-spaced inverted .L-shaped 5 lifting forks, the vertical portions of said lifting forks being rigidly secured to the rear portion of said frame, and the horizontal portions thereof terminating over said apron and forwardly of the plane thereof.

RAYMOND M. WINSLOW.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Davis Nov. 30, 1926 Remde Oct. 10, 1933 Knoerzer Mar. 7, 1939 Thumin Oct. 3, 1939 Ulm Oct. 16, 1945 Williams Aug. 17, 1948 Johnson Aug. 23, 1949 Teague Apr. 25; 1950 Cirillo Aug. 1, 1950 Richardson June 26, 1951 

